Things I Wish I'd Known

When Claire Cooper was 15 she'd swear on her Wham! album that: big hair and rah-rah skirts were here to stay; Spandau Ballet would never split up; she would marry her idol, heart-throb footballer Andy Pailes. Fast forward 20 years and things haven't gone quite to plan. And when Claire discovers the 'dream list' she wrote as a teenager, she realises how far removed her life is from the one she'd imagined.

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Publisher's Summary

When Claire Cooper was 15 she'd swear on her Wham! album that: big hair and rah-rah skirts were here to stay; Spandau Ballet would never split up; she would marry her idol, heart-throb footballer Andy Pailes. Fast forward 20 years and things haven't gone quite to plan. And when Claire discovers the "dream list" she wrote as a teenager, she realises how far removed her life is from the one she'd imagined. Divorced, stuck in a dead-end job, and dating an ambulance-chasing personal injury lawyer, she decides it's time to put her life back on track.

But what really happened between Claire and her teen idol all those years ago? And is meeting him again the way to make her dreams come true? Or a huge mistake?

The timeline jumps back and forth between the 15 year old Claire in 1985 and 38 year old Claire in present day.

15 year old Claire has the rare privilege of meeting a local celebrity on whom she has a teen crush. That meeting sparks a turn of events that impacts the rest of her life as well as those around her. As the layers of the story unravel, you see how the events in her teenage life shape her as an adult. Now she has a chance to meet him again. Two adults on a more equal playing field. Fascinating dynamic.

It is a story of friendship, love, family, career, adolescent dreams, and the reality of adulthood.

Great plot - not predictable at all. The suspense is built skillfully... I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Great humorous moments. This is not a standard chick lit romance - much more substance.

A nice story about friendship and relationships which are told as flashbacks. Always enjoyable - reading about a 30 year old and flashing back to her as a 15 year old with a few laughs in between.

As the description points out, Claire leads a normal life but when she reads a "Life List" she made as a teenager, she thinks she made have missed out on things. She sets out to fix this and hunts down her old best friend as well as an old flame.

The story was enjoyable, it just took me about an hour to really get into it. As always, narration by Suzy Aitchison is great.

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